


Caught In A Downpour

by FamousSmuggler



Series: Requests and Oneshots [15]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alcohol, Bad Jokes, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, HoneyKetchup, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Surface Life, US!Papyrus is down on his luck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 02:59:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9696746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FamousSmuggler/pseuds/FamousSmuggler
Summary: Sans notices his long time friend is a bit down and out





	

**Author's Note:**

> Echoes said they were always down for more HoneyKetchup so here ya go bud :D  
> Working through my writer's block one idea at a time x_x sorry things have been a bit slow guys!  
> Hope you enjoy this!

**“We are expecting heavy rains for the remainder of the week with the chance of floods. More news within the hour.”**

 

The human on the tv screen slowly faded out of view with dramatic flare. The small bar was surprisingly crowded for the time of day but the raging storm had pushed many street goers to find shelter, even if it was somewhere they normally wouldn’t be.

 

On the far end of the bar a skeleton monster sat alone, swirling his dark drink around in its glass, careful not to clink the ice cubes against the glass too loudly. He was a giant of a monster, resting easily at seven feet, if not taller, despite his slouched pose. He wore a dingy orange hoodie and dark green cargo shorts. His off white bones lightly scarred from years of manual labor and magic burns under his eyes from long, sleepless nights.

 

“I’m beginning to think this is your home now, Stretch.” The bartender joked with an all too big grin. Stretch gave the skeleton bartender a lopsided grin before turning his head down again. The bartender’s grin twitched a little, staring at his long time friend with sudden concern. “Hey, uh, you okay?” Stretch made a soft chuckle, shaking his head as he downed the last of his drink.

 

The bartender, Sans, turned to his co-worker and asked him to watch the floor. Even though they were packed, their patrons were not really ordering anything, mostly just staying in for the warmth. Once his co-worker agreed to watch the floor, Sans walked around the bar and ushered Stretch to follow him. The giant of a monster followed with slow, easy going steps, doing his best not to accidentally loom over Sans who was barely at five feet.

 

“Alright, talk.” Stretch couldn’t hold back the chuckle from his throat. Sans was not known for being serious, often caught joking or pulling pranks on some of the other long time patrons. It was an amusing change, but it didn’t help that Stretch really was in the dumps. Not that he was gonna let Sans in on that. Stretch deflected with jokes and puns, much aimed at himself, but Sans just sighed and dragged a hand over his naturally grinning face. “Stretch, you know why skeletons are shitty liars?”

 

Stretch looked around the small managerial office and shrugged. He knew the answer but it was always a bit more funny for the teller to say the punchline.

 

“Because you can see right through them bud, and I’ve known you long enough to see through you with your clothes on. What’s going on?” Stretch looked at Sans with his tired eyes, scratching at the back of his skull while trying to figure out an excuse that Sans would buy.

 

Sadly, none came to mind. “I’m just a bit down on my luck.” Sans made a scoff as he stared incredulously at Stretch.

 

“Alright, I get that I don’t have eyes but I can see you’re a bit more than “a bit down” on your luck.” The scratching at his skull ceased, his hand dangling down at his side. His words came out as mumbled, almost inaudible whispers, whatever shred of pride he still had holding him back from openly telling Sans why he had been frequenting the bar so much these last few weeks. It was a bit odd for Sans to see Stretch so reluctant to talk. They were both known for being chatty Kathys around the bar, yet here Stretch was quiet as a mouse.

 

He didn’t want to leave his friend in this office but Sans still had three hours of a shift to work and as laid back as his co-workers were, he really didn’t want to push their acceptance by asking them to cover the rest of his closing shit. Stretch seemed to notice Sans’ dilemma and moved back to the door, hand on the knob waiting on Sans to follow his move.

 

“You closing tonight?”

 

“Aren’t I always?” Sans smiled

 

Stretch chuckled, looking down at the ground for a moment before flashing Sans an actual smile, “Guess that means you aren’t against company?” The little monster’s sockets widened for a moment before dropping back to their normal half-lidded gaze, grinning a bigger than usual grin.

 

“Think you can last three hours?” he teased, walking up to the doorway that had been so politely opened for him “I wouldn’t wanna bore you.” Stretch rolled his eyes as best as he could before pushing Sans lightly through the door and closing it behind him. The bartender pulled his keys from his jacket pocket and locking the manager’s office once more. Both skeletons returned to the bar counter, Stretch pleasantly surprised that his favorite spot was still available, as they had left; Sans grinning and joking with the other patrons that were still trying to flood into the small bar and Stretch ordering another honey whiskey while he waited for his friend to get off.

 

**~.~**

 

Three hours lasted a whole hell of a lot longer than Stretch felt it should have. The first two hours seemed to go by quickly but that last hour had the large skeleton actually tapping his phalanges against the countertop in frustration. The rain outside had done nothing but pick up over the course of their wait, thunder booming and rattling the building’s foundation enough for people to get jittery.

 

When the human bartender called for last call, Stretch felt sigh in relief until he remembered that there was still clean up. The human, Shaun, walked over and tapped him on the shoulder, asking him to leave the premises but Sans jumped in before Stretch could talk.

 

“Don’t worry bout him, I’m his ride home for the night.” Shaun opened his mouth to say something but decided to leave it be. Stretch could only assume that the human knew that Sans could teleport, and laughed at the thought. Sure, he could teleport as well but it was pretty rude to jump into your friend’s house when you knew it was locked up, even if they were expecting you. Shaun left them alone after that and cleaned the opposite end of the bar so Sans and Stretch could stay in contact with one another.

 

“Pretty nice co-worker ya got there, he new?” Sans looked over at Shaun, scrubbing away at a stain that Sans had known by his first month would never come out.

 

“Yeah, good enough kid, bartending through college, ya know?” Stretch nodded his head, spinning slowly in his stool while Sans wiped down his edge of the bar. Sans noticed the absent look in Stretch’s sockets but knew better than to try and talk about it. If the skeleton wasn’t going to talk before, he likely wasn’t going to talk within earshot of a human he barely knew. So, Sans acted like he was oblivious to his friend’s duress, making his quick clean up as believable as possible before tossing Shaun the keys to lock up. Both parties waved goodbye then Sans and Stretch teleported away, landing in front of Sans’ apartment.

 

The door was opened and closed quickly, and Stretch immediately collapsed on the couch provided, the exhaustion in his bones suddenly hitting him like a bunch from an Aaron. Part of Sans knew that if he didn’t try and talk to Stretch now it would likely be just THAT much more difficult to get the skeleton to open up, but his friend looked worked to the bone and Sans could go for a shower. As much as he loved working at the fire elemental’s growing bar chain, the smell of all the different alcohols that often got spilt on him were appealing for so long.

 

“How are you beating me without even doing anything…” Sans mumbled, scratching his head with a huff “I’m gonna take a shower Stretch. We’ll have our chat once I’m out, kay?” Stretch made some incoherent grunt of a response but Sans took it for a yes to his question. Even if it was more of a “just drop it all ready”. But no matter how hard he tried, Sans couldn’t get that look on Stretch’s face out of his head. It had been a long time since he saw that look on his best friend’s face, not since his brother left abroad for school which was going on three years ago.

 

When the ice cold water spurted out from the shower head, Sans yelped in surprise. His daydreaming making him forget to let the water warm up before immediately jumping into the shower. As much as he didn’t appreciate the wake up call, it let him quick the hygiene pit stop up a few notches. The alcohols and sugars were scrubbed from his bones with the soft sponge, saturated in whatever soup he found laying around, he really needed to pick up some stuff instead of just mixing and matching as much as he did.

 

The shower couldn’t have been more than ten minutes. A quick rinse and dry then a teleport into his room for a clean pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Even though it was raining Sans’ apartment was still relatively warm in comparison and the warmth only added to his amusement when he took the slow steps back into his living room and heard the light snoring coming from his couch. Sans shoved his hands into his pants pockets as he stared at the lightly snoozing Stretch, watching as the magic burns beneath his closed sockets slowly eased up, not fully going away but not as deep as they had been either.

 

Sans huffed lightly, leaning back against the armrest of the couch and gently caressing Stretch’s skull. “You’re supposed to be a lazybones like me Stretch, what have you been up to?” The skeleton beneath his hand made a soft whimper in his sleep and Sans shushed him like he would his own little brother. Stretch curled up a little in his sleep, his whimpering lessening whenever Sans spoke softly to him. “Sleep tight, ya big babybones.”

 

Sans gave a lingering pat on his friends skull before locking up his apartment and slowly retreating into his own room. Stretch was asleep, the bastard, and Sans wasn’t about to wake him up to pry into his life as of the last few weeks. Besides, Sans was tired himself and he would need every ounce of his own stubbornness to be able to combat with Stretch’s.

 

**~.~**

 

Sans wasn’t sure what the hour was when he felt his mattress dip by whatever extra weight had been added to it, his mind already connecting the dots when he felt arms slowly slink around his waist and pull him back against the hard ridges of a rib cage. If that wasn’t evidence enough, the distinct smell of honey and cigarettes was a dead give away.

 

“Did I wake you?” The voice came out dry and scratchy. Sans grunted no and scooted back into the light hold his friend had around him “Tch...skeletons are bad liars remember?” Sans gave him a groggy chuckle and turned in his embrace, snuggling under Stretch’s chin.

 

“Who says I’m lying? Maybe I was waiting for you.” Sans smiled as he snaked his arms around Stretch’s neck. The taller didn’t say anything to that, but tightened his arms around Sans’ small body, burying his head into the crook of the little skeleton’s neck as he curled his body around him. Sans had almost drifted back to sleep when he felt phalanges begin to trace his bottom most floating ribs. He bit back the moans that the little feathery touches caused, arching his spine slightly into Stretch’s front whenever the monster’s hands moved from bone to bone.

 

Before Sans could think to reciprocate Stretch’s advances, he stopped all together. “Sorry that wasn’t exactly how I meant for that to go.” Sans chuckled and pushed Stretch away from so he could get a good look at his friend. That dread filled look wasn’t there anymore, though a new one that Sans couldn’t really give a name too had taken its place, and his eyes looked a lot better than when he had first staggered his way into the bar.

 

“Really? ‘Cause I was thinking it was going alright.” Sans flashed a goofy grin, it wouldn’t be the first time they had messed around and the small skeleton wasn’t against having any repeats “Though, I would like to know what’s going on with you bud.” Stretch nodded his head and sighed, pulling his small friend up so that he was straddling the larger skeleton.

 

“I ever mention that you look nice in a tank top?”

 

“Stretch…” the taller smiled at Sans’ light growl and rose his hands in defense.

 

“Right, right, sorry. Look, I just, um, I’ve been having a hard time lately.” Sans rolled his sockets, raising one of his ridges with a strong, incredulous look on his face. Stretch tilted his mouth in a small smirk before the crestfallen look took over again “The company that I worked for...they got caught up in some scandal, went bankrupt and everyone was let go some months back. I’ve been living off my savings since.” Sans stared wide eyed at his friend. This was...this was huge! Why did Stretch hide it from him for so long?!

 

So many things came to Sans’ mind, not all of them necessarily things that needed to be said to his friend right now either. Part of him was frustrated at Stretch’s silence while another part recognized it from behavior he had exhibited with his own brother back when they were growing up. Quiet, self-depreciative mumbles from his friend reminded Sans that Stretch was breaking down beneath him.

 

“Hey, Stretch, you know there’s people that would be willing to help you, why didn’t you ask bud?” Stretch gave a quick shrug to Sans’ question. Sans placed his hands on Stretch’s ribs, mostly to keep himself balanced as he stared at the darkening sockets of his friend “Stretch, what do you need me to do. Just name it.” Without much warning, Stretch moved his hands to the side of Sans’ face, pulling him down and clinking their teeth together in a kiss, his golden orange tongue pushing into Sans’ mouth and prompting the skeleton to form his own blue one.

 

Small moans slipped into the kiss as both the monsters deepened it. Sans wrapped his small hands around the V shaped opening on Stretch’s hoodie, pulling the larger skeleton up a bit to ease the craning in his own neck.

 

Stretch pulled away, sitting fully up with his legs creased at the knees “I just could use some company, and…” his head dropped against Sans’ chest, his hands sliding down to the skeletons small but wide set hips “if I could crash here until I find a job. I’m sure someone will hire this ol’ bag-o-bones.” Sans figured, though he didn’t want to say anything out loud, that Stretch didn’t have a place to return to after hearing about his unemployment. He had likely been motel hopping for some time and stars knew that ate through any kind of savings that Stretch might have had.

 

Sans didn’t even hesitate. His answer had come almost instantly to Stretch, kissing him on the forehead then moving his head up so Sans could press a kiss to his teeth again. “Course bud, if you want, I’ll even help ya find a job.” Thunder crashed once the words left Sans’ mouth, leaving the skeleton glaring at the storm still raging outside “Thank you convenient and ominous thunder…” Stretch chuckled lifting Sans up a bit then laying him back down so he could spoon the smaller skeleton.

 

“Staying like this...with me is enough tonight.” Stretch yawned, moving his hands to caress Sans’ lower ribs again and making him gasp out “I’ll be sure to pay back my appreciation for you putting up with me.” Sans let out an airy laugh as the gentle kisses were placed all along his neck and shoulders “But for now, I think we both could use some sleep.” The taller yawned again and snuggled closer to Sans, his own drowsiness starting to sneak up on him. He nodded his head, turning his Stretch’s embrace again and curling up against his ribs, feeling their souls pulse in easy tandem.

 

“Yeah...since someone woke me up.” Sans joked.

 

Stretch let out a loud choke of a laugh, “See? I knew you were lying.” Sans yawned and snuggled closer Stretch, the pitter patter of the rain starting to really lull him to sleep. He tried to word his goodnights as clearly as possible but they came out slurred and barely coherent. But it was enough for Stretch. He could feel the emotion that was pulsing from Sans’ soul in its natural attempt to calm and comfort him. To say he was grateful barely covered even a fraction of the emotion that Stretch felt toward his friend.

 

“G’night, Sans.” Stretch whispered, letting out one last yawn and closed his eyes, the ever present rhythmic tapping of the rain outside against Sans’ bedroom window lulling him to sleep as it had the small monster in his arms.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed :)  
> I'm still doing requests while working on some continuations/multichapter stuff that I have going!  
> Feel free to drop a comment or an ask at my tumblr if you're interested!  
> Take care everyone <3


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